Alien: Isolation video shows off 1970s tech, reveals importance of VHS

“This isn’t a world of holograms and touchscreens; there’s no sense here that technology is going to save you.” creative lead Alistair Hope says in a new developer diary video. “It’s a world very much of CRT, not LCD.”

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The folks at the Creative Assembly are doing their darndest to make sure that Alien: Isolation look, sound, and feel like the original Alien from 1979. So, it’s critical that the game doesn’t employ any tech that would have been impossible while creating the original film.

“This isn’t a world of holograms and touchscreens; there’s no sense here that technology is going to save you.” creative lead Alistair Hope says in a new developer diary video. “It’s a world very much of CRT, not LCD.”

In fact, in order to help inform the developers on how the game should look, they recorded gameplay onto VHS and played it back, making sure to stomp on the wires to create the right kind of distortion. You too will be able to experience this “lo-fi sci-fi” when it launches on next-gen consoles and PC on October 7th.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
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    April 17, 2014 10:00 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Alien: Isolation video shows off 1970s tech, reveals importance of VHS.

    “This isn’t a world of holograms and touchscreens; there’s no sense here that technology is going to save you.” creative lead Alistair Hope says in a new developer diary video. “It’s a world very much of CRT, not LCD.”

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      April 17, 2014 10:14 AM

      I love the manual VHS destruction to make in-game video and stuff.

      It's taking the lore to an extreme since we know we won't be using analog hardware in the future, but it's a really nice nod to the original design and gives it that dirty grimy feel that was so effective in Alien.

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      April 17, 2014 10:16 AM

      I like the direction they seem to be going. Hopefully they won't wreck too much equipment doing this since there's probably a shrinking supply of by-gone tech like that.

      • ArB legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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        April 18, 2014 1:43 AM

        eldersveld has been waking up in a cold sweat and has no idea why.

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      April 17, 2014 10:42 AM

      "The folks at the Creative Assembly are doing their darndest to make sure that Alien: Isolation look, sound, and feel like the original Alien from 1979. So, it’s critical that the game doesn’t employ any tech that would have been impossible while creating the original film."


      ...but the movie is set in the future not 1979. seems kinda of stupid that they would base their creative direction based on the technical limitations of the day

      "The game is set in 2137"

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        April 17, 2014 10:58 AM

        [deleted]

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        April 17, 2014 11:20 AM

        [deleted]

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        April 17, 2014 12:06 PM

        the game is a sequel to a universe that diverged from our own in 1979

        so it's not stupid at all, and only helps the game be more interesting

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        April 17, 2014 12:08 PM

        [deleted]

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        April 18, 2014 12:38 AM

        It's a divergent timeline, the future as it was conceived in 1979. The technical term is retro-futuristic.

        Plenty of games have done this before. Bioshock 1 and 2 used a 1930s-inspired retro-futurism, while Bioshock Infinite was roughly 1920s. Most of the Fallout franchise (the ones that are canon anyway) are 1950s retro-futurism.

        Using the 1970s as a base for another go-round of retro-futurism is a great idea, especially since so many MAJOR sci-fi films came out in that decade. Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Andromeda Strain, A Clockwork Orange, Soylent Green, THX 1138, Logan's Run, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Westworld, Mad Max... and that's just up to 1979. Go a few years ahead, basically the same aesthetic, and there's tons more.

        Basically, quite a few people were raised on sci-fi that used this aesthetic for its version of the future. Finally getting to play in that future will be great.

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      April 17, 2014 12:02 PM

      Thank you for actually sticking to the artstyle of the original movie! And thank god GearBox isn't making this....

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      April 17, 2014 1:29 PM

      I've got my Atari 800 complete with data recorder(cassette deck) and 300 baud acoustic modem ready if they want ideas.

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      April 17, 2014 2:18 PM

      Maybe you should have a link to Wikipedia as some young Shackers may not know what a CRT is.

      Definitely like the art direction though as it gives the game its own style versus some generic "sci-fi" look.

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      April 17, 2014 2:43 PM

      I hope this game is really good and sells well. I worry that it won't find a big audience.

    • ArB legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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      April 18, 2014 2:15 AM

      Please don't suck! I had no idea it would be this authentic; it looks and sounds great.

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      April 18, 2014 2:50 AM

      please don't suck please don't suck please don't suck

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      April 21, 2014 1:56 PM

      Can't wait to play this ON a CRT, so very meta.

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